criminolly's reviews
2400 reviews

Mischief in the Wood by Tina Rath

adventurous emotional funny mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.0

This was a very enjoyable urban fantasy style story - with a group of British teenagers meeting a faerie and getting access to another world. It's packed with wonder and humour and moves at a pleasantly fast pace. Overall it has something of a young adult vibe to it, partly because of the young central characters, and it reminded me a little in subject and tone of the Joe Cornish movie 'The Kid Who Would be King'. I had a great time with it, despite not being much of a fantasy fan, and definitely recommend it. Would also make a great pick for younger readers.  

Kidnapped By The Cult! by Francine Pascal

3.0

The Saint-Fiacre Affair by Georges Simenon

3.5

The Buffalo Hunter Hunter by Stephen Graham Jones

adventurous dark reflective tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes

5.0

Ways to Die in Tokyo by Thomas Ran Garver

mysterious tense fast-paced

3.5

This is an entertaining, super fast-paced thriller set in Tokyo. It follows an American MMA fighter who gets caught up with local criminals and has all the action and twists you'd expect from that plot summary. It also has a tonne of fascinating background about the the city and local culture that manages to provide a rich backdrop for the breakneck thriller without getting in the way of the story. If you enjoy this kind of book, 'Ways to Die in Tokyo' is definitely worth checking out.

Longarm and the Racy Ladies by Tabor Evans

3.0

A Kiss Before Dying by Ira Levin

5.0

Death Strike by Dick Stivers

2.5

A sub-par men’s adventure novel. I’m not sure if this one carried on from the book before it, but it definitely felt like it. There’s a reasonable amount of action, but not enough peril (surprisingly, given that one of Able Team is being held captive by a terror group throughout). 

Osgood As Dead by Cooper S. Beckett

4.0

The 4th of the Spectral Inspector books by Cooper S Beckett is just as enjoyable and wild a ride as the first three. It starts where the third book left off and so I won’t say too much about the plot for fear of spoiling the end of that book. And in fact the plot isn’t really the point of these books, although the stories and pacing are always good. They’re much more about the characters (heroine Prudence Osgood in particular) and the vibe. That vibe is hard to describe - a mix of very creepy horror and cosy queer found family drama that feels like it shouldn’t necessarily work and yet does. 
The horror comes from a beguiling mix of cosmic weirdness and a fascination with unsettling half forgotten pop culture oddities. It works well, and the fact that you come to care so much about Osgood and her team of ghostbusters only helps ramp up the tension. There’s also a great ongoing story in these books, about Osgood’s battles against evil, which borders on the grandiose but manages to be compelling and fun. She is so different from the typical horror adventure protagonist that it’s impossible not to root for her wholeheartedly. 
I think that’s the thing that makes these books as enjoyable as they are. They’re proudly different, with the author’s obsessions and opinions in full view in a way that doesn’t always happen in traditionally published works. It results in a different kind of horror, and I’m definitely down for it. 

Monster Blood by R.L. Stine

3.0

Definitely not my favourite Goosebumps book, but still an entertaining way to spend a couple of hours. This one has a weird goo that multiplies itself as well as making other things (including the main character’s dog) bigger. It’s as silly and cheesy as you’d expect a Goosebumps book to be, with a fair number of twists, but it doesn’t match the gleeful inventive fun of the best of the series.